News in Brief 11 July 2017 (AM)

Published in Web Deskon July 11, 2017|Comments Off on News in Brief 11 July 2017 (AM)

UN honours memory of Srebrenica victims

The United Nations is this Tuesday remembering and honouring the thousands of men and boys slaughtered 22 years ago in the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Balkan Wars.

The 11 July 1995 massacre was the largest atrocity on European soil since the organization was founded in the wake of the Second World War.

In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the international community, and the UN in particular, has accepted its share of responsibility regarding Srebrenica and has worked hard to learn from the lessons of its failures.

He stated that "the difficult task of building trust to allow for full reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina lies with the people of the country's various communities," adding that "To build a better and common future, the tragedies of the past must be recognized by those communities."

Aid convoys reach Syria town via newly-opened land route

A first series of humanitarian convoys has arrived in Qamishli in north-east Syria bringing essential supplies to people affected by conflict, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday.

The convoys took place over the past two weeks using a newly opened road route thus allowing aid to be delivered to battle-affected Raqqa governorate, where an estimated 430,000 people are in need.

So far, 17 out of the 22 trucks dispatched have reached their destination.

UNHCR said the opening of the land route is a "breakthrough" as the road had been closed for nearly two years due to the ongoing conflict in the country.

Meeting explores role of trade in Great Lakes peace

The role of trade in peace and prosperity in Africa's Great Lakes Region is the focus of a meeting in Geneva this Tuesday.

It aims to explore the connection between humanitarian and development issues in order to promote security in a region where insecurity and political conflict, compounded by drought in some areas, has displaced more than seven million people and generated some 3.5 million refugees.

Discussions will centre around the Great Lakes Regional Strategic Framework which fosters collaboration on solving and preventing conflicts and crisis in the region, whose countries include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda,

The meeting has been organized by UN trade body, UNCTAD, and the Office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region.